


Sparks

by Ren_Dreamt_The_Cosmos



Category: Rammstein
Genre: Alternate Universe - Benzin, Enemies to Friends, Gen, Not RPF, Rescue, Suicidal Thoughts, Suicide Attempt, kind of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-27
Updated: 2020-05-27
Packaged: 2021-03-02 20:40:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,866
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24402964
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ren_Dreamt_The_Cosmos/pseuds/Ren_Dreamt_The_Cosmos
Summary: It's hard being an arsonist when you grow attached to the cute firefighter whose entire job is stopping the fires you start.Benzin AU with Till as an arsonist? Yes, indeed.
Relationships: No Romantic Relationship(s)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 21





	Sparks

**Author's Note:**

> Enjoy ♡
> 
> If you find mistakes, let me know and I shall fix them!
> 
> Based off of the [Benzin Music Video](https://youtu.be/z0wK6s-6cbo).

Till made sure that the buildings were abandoned each and every time. He would carefully watch until the homeless moved on to their next place, and he would gently shoo the various street cats and dogs out before he began.

It was always empty, rotting buildings. The ones that nobody was going to use and the ones that had sat vacant and unused for years. The unloved and forgotten ones.

The buildings were the ones that the general populace thought of as ugly and unpleasant to look at, but Till found them so very beautiful when they burned.

When the flames would dance high into the sky, and everyone suddenly remembered about the building's existence, when everyone began to panic about the flames that would stretch higher and higher into the sky, the walls and ceilings of the building collapsing into themselves as the fire devoured it. Everyone had forgotten about the building's existence, but Till made them remember.

The fires never lasted very long as the firefighters that worked for the city rarely had any calls except for the occasional cat stuck in a tree, so they always arrived at the scene promptly to put out the beautiful fires Till had created.

Till would watch from within the gathered crowds or from down the street, hands tucked in his pockets and head held low, trying his best not to stand out as he observed the group of four as they worked together as a team to put out the raging fires that he had started.

He always stuck around, to watch the firefighters work to put down his creation, his art.

He liked to watch one, in particular, _Paul_. Paul Landers was his name, as the letters proudly displayed across the back of the firefighter's jacket proclaimed. Till didn't really care much for the three other firefighters that worked with Paul, but the short firefighter had caught Till's eye. Till had to admit the handsome firefighter was good at his job, it really was a shame his job was ruining Till's creations.

He may like Paul, but Till wouldn't let his feelings get in the way of his craft.

* * *

Paul let out a jaw-cracking yawn as he slowly trudged down the street, the tired man slouching as he carried the two heavy grocery bags containing the various foods and supplies that the other firefighters had sent him to retrieve soon after they had returned from a twelve-hour shift and discovered the fridge and cupboards near-empty.

Luckily Richard had promised to wash the truck and the others would put all the groceries and supplies away for Paul if he went out and got the groceries, so all Paul had to do was get to the edge of the city, call Richard to come to pick him up with the truck, get back to the firehouse, and then he could immediately go to bed - with the hope that they wouldn't be called to a scene for a few hours so he could actually get a good rest for once.

The last few weeks had been their busiest in years. They had been chasing this new arsonist across town, always minutes too late to catch him in the act of setting his fires. The arsonist had absolutely demolished their sleep schedules.

The police had been helpful at first, but they had given fewer and fewer people and resources as time went on. They just couldn't spare the manpower. As time went on and they chased more and more fires across the city, Paul doubted more and more that they would ever catch the man behind them.

Paul shook his head, dispelling those thoughts from his head.

Before he could move on to daydreaming about the pretty girl he had saved from the apartment fire a few weeks ago or the soft and cozy bed that was awaiting him at the firehouse, Paul saw movement in his peripherals and looked up to see something fall from the pocket of a man walking ahead of him, maybe six meters away, the object bouncing on the concrete for a few moments before stilling on the sidewalk, the man continuing his brisk pace without noticing his belonging that he was swiftly leaving behind.

"Hey! Hey, man," Paul yelled at the man, hoping to draw his attention to his dropped belonging. "hey! You dropped-" Paul groaned, annoyed as the man didn't hear the firefighter's attempts to catch his attention. Paul sighed and switched one grocery bag to his other hand, awkwardly holding the two bulky bags at his side as he jogged up to the object, quickly bending down to pick up the item with his now free hand.

It was a lighter, obviously well cared for if the cleanliness and shine of the metal was any indication, but slightly dented on the lid, most likely from the fall that it had taken from the man's pocket to the ground.

Paul quickly shoved the lighter in his pocket and looked back up to see the man turn and quickly glance around before slipping into the old and decrepit abandoned mattress factory that had sat on the edge of town for as long as Paul could remember. Paul found it suspicious, the way that the man had glanced around before entering the building. Paul thought it could be beneficial to check this out, and he needed to return the lighter anyways if the man wasn't up to anything illegal.

Paul quickly jogged up to the building and slipped inside, carefully glancing around as he looked for any sign of where the man had gone. The building was littered with abandoned cardboard and wooden pallets, the various materials and items obviously having been left behind when the factory closed or having been placed there by teens or the homeless in the years of its abandonment. Paul quickly cleared the first floor and determined the man wasn't there, meaning he had either slipped back outside or he had gone up to the second floor. And so Paul quickly climbed the stairs, trying his best to avoid making much noise as he did.

As Paul reached the top of the stairs and made his way to the end of the hallway that separated the stairwell and the bathrooms from the main shop floor, he peeked around the corner. After a moment of glancing about, Paul quickly stilled and stepped back. The man that he had been following was stood in the middle of what had once been the shop floor, currently standing over a pile of stacked wooden pallets, his hands fumbling through his pockets and his eyes scanning the floor around his feet - quite obviously looking for something.

His lighter?

Paul watched as the man curse, before sighing in annoyance and reaching into a back pocket on his pants and pulling out a box of matches.

He was...

Paul recognized this setup. The pallets, the gasoline can that he now noticed, tipped over behind the man with the liquid that was once contained in it spilled out in large circles throughout the large room, the pallets drenched in the flammable liquid as well.

The arsonist that they had been chasing for weeks used this setup.

"You!" Paul let the two bags of groceries spill from his grasp and onto the dirty floor as he jumped out from behind the corner, throwing an accusatory finger out as the man prepared to strike the match. "You're the arsonist!"

The man jumped at Paul's words, whipping around to state at Paul with wide eyes before loudly cursing and taking off running, but not before tossing the match onto the fire. Paul let out a curse as the man quickly disappearing out onto the streets, the flames growing as the gasoline and wood were set alight.

For a moment Paul contemplated between chasing after the fleeing man or dealing with the fire, and while he wanted to track the arsonist down - the fire won his immediate attention.

Paul whipped out his phone, and quickly dialed Richard's number, listening to the dial tone as he ran from the fire, quickly making his way to the front of the building and standing out on the street as smoke began to seep out from the shattered windows of the factory.

"Richard? I just found the arsonist, came across him as he was setting a fire. Get the others and bring the truck, I'm at the old mattress factory on the edge of town. You better hurry, the flames are spreading fast."

* * *

"Hey, Till?"

"Yeah, Flake?" Till settled the phone against his ear and pressed his shoulder against it to hold it there as he walked his bike up to the rack that was beside the steps leading up to the front door of his apartment building. "What's up, I'm outside right now. I certainly have a story for you! You won't believe what happened today with that firefighter I've told you about, Paul! I ran into him when I was out doing my art!"

Till grinned to himself as he pulled a bag from the back of his bike and settled it on the concrete before setting his bike onto the rack and leaning down to place his bike lock around the pole and the bike. "Plus I got the cat litter _and_ some cat treats for your little furball!"

"Look, um.." Till paused his actions as Flake spoke hesitantly, Till noticing an odd tone in his friend's voice. And was that... wind that was currently crackling through the speaker?

"What is it? Where are you?" Till clicked the lock shut around the bike lock that secured his bike to the rack, and moved to climb the steps to go inside.

"Till, I'm.." Flake sighed heavily. "I'm up on the roof."

Till froze.

"You're _where_?" Till took a few steps back, craning his head to gaze up and up to where the roof of the apartment building was, towering many stories above him. Sure enough, Till could see the cartoonishly small form of Flake settled on the edge of the roof, the tall man dangling his legs off of the great height as he looked down at Till, a phone - barely visibly at this distance - clutched in his hands. "Flake? What are you doing up there? What's going on?"

"Till.." Flake sighed. "I lost my job. Kevin, that guy with the dog that I told you about last week, pinned the blame of missing supplies on me and the boss believed him and told me to pack my shit and not return tomorrow. He didn't even take a moment to let me stand up for myself before he was dumping my laptop and coat in my hands and pushing me out the door."

"Flake, I'm so sorry..." Till sighed. "But you can get another one Flake, it's not like the world is ending! I saw that the cat cafe over by the veterinarian clinic is hiring! Or the new library over by the roller rink! You could be hired by next week!" Till forced a smile onto his face, even though Flake couldn't see it. "It'll get better!"

"That's the third job I've lost in _two months,_ Till. Nobody is going to hire me at this point with this record. We're already behind on this month's rent, you aren't making enough money selling your baskets and stuff, and now there's absolutely no way I can go back to college and finish getting my degree. Everything is just so hopeless right now."

"Right _now_! Exactly Flake, it might be hopeless _now_ , but it won't be in the future. It won't stay this way!" Till spotted an older man walking by, and quickly gestured at him to catch his attention, motioning towards the phone that was held in the man's hand and made a phone symbol with his hand. The man luckily understood his meaning and quickly handed over his device.

Covering up the microphone of his personal phone and holding it a little further away from his face so Flake wouldn't hear the conversation, Till quickly dialed the emergency service's number into the other man's phone, holding it up to his free ear as it rang.

"Hello, this is Dispatch. What is your emergency?"

"My friend! He's on the roof, he's going to jump!" Till nervously rattled off the address of his apartment to the operator, and it wasn't long before he heard the echoing sirens of a fire truck approaching. With a grateful nod, Till handed the phone back to the man.

"Flake it's going to be okay. Just trust me." As Till spoke, the sirens grew even louder and the dark streets began to brighten as the flashing lights from the truck grew closer.

"Till, did you call the firefighters?! Didn't you say you ran into one of them today, what if they recognize you?!" Flake's voice crackled through the cell phone, the man obviously concerned about the fate of his friend. "Don't risk yourself for me!"

"Flake don't worry, it'll be fine. We'll get you down and I'll slip away before they can ask any more questions. And you'll get a new job, I'll lay low for a few weeks, it will all be _fine_." Till bluffed, before turning to see the firetruck screech to a halt at the curb, the four firefighters piling out of the tall vehicle and taking a moment to take in the situation before beginning to move over to Till. "He's up there!" Till pointed to the roof and gulped as he saw Paul pause and do a double-take upon seeing him. But the firefighter shook his head and continued past Till to look up at the distant form of Flake, so Till assumed - he hoped - that the man hadn't recognized him as the arsonist that he had briefly seen a few hours earlier.

"Alright guys!" One of the taller firefighters, Schneider as the back of his jacket identified him, clapped his hands together as he gazed up at Flake. "Grab the net! We need to hurry, this man doesn't look like he wants to wait for his quick trip to the ground level."

"I've got it!" One of them ran to the truck and pulled a large mass of fabric and rope from the cabinet on the side of the truck, the tallest firefighter following to help.

"Hey, wait!" Till turned to watch as Paul ran up to his fellow firefighter, the one that was currently making his way over to the other two with a net gathered up in his arms. "Richard, that's the one with a tear! I thought I told Ollie to throw it away last shift! We need to use the other one."

The other man, Richard, nodded and ran back to the truck, dumping the ripped net carelessly onto the ground and grabbing a new one. He quickly ran to the foot of the apartment building and the three others gathered around the net, grabbing a side each and spreading out, pulling it taut as they gazed up at Flake's tall and thin form that teetered on the edge of the roof, quickly sidestepping and correcting each other as they moved into position to catch Flake.

Till's attention was pulled back to the phone that was limply held in his hand as Flake spoke again.

"I'm sorry Till, I know you want them to save me but..." Resignation was clear in the man's tone. "Take care of my cat, yes?"

"Come on Flake! You take care of her yourself, come get off of that roof. It'll all work out, Flake. Trust me."

"I am getting off." Till began to speak, but Flake had ended the call, the tone ringing loudly as Till numbly let the device fall from his grip. As he looked up, the tiny form of Flake made a ' _goodbye'_ wave at Till.

"Flake, no!" Till yelled as his phone - now useless - fell from his limp grip.

With that, Flake took a few steps to the side, and jumped.

" _No_!" Till gasped as Flake plummeted, and looked away, muscles tending as the firefighters yelled and pulled the net and moved around to hopefully catch the plummeting body, quickly moving a few steps to counteract Flake's attempt to miss the net.

Till couldn't bear to look. He didn't want to risk seeing his friend slam into the pavement, to see him die.

"We got him!"

Till turned back with a gasp as the firefighters cheered, a relived sob escaping his lips as he saw Flake lying on the net, the firefighters carefully and gently lowering him and the net to the ground as he softly groaned and flopped his long and lanky limbs around, obviously disoriented by the fall - which wasn't surprising.

"Flake!" Till watched as a pair of paramedics gathered around Flake, quickly placing a brace around his neck and immobilizing him on the stretcher, probably just in case he had sustained spinal damage on impact. Flake could probably tell him - if he hadn't been the one getting treated. "Flake, is he alright?!"

"Okay, let's get him to the hospital to get checked out just in case. That was a long fall." One of the paramedics quickly spoke with one of the firefighters, Richard, before nodding to his partner and beginning to move Flake away with a quick look back to Till. "He should be alright, you're welcome to come with him."

As Flake was carefully loaded into the awaiting ambulance, Till moved forward to clamber inside with him but a hand reached and clamped onto his arm, preventing him from climbing into the medical vehicle and accompanying his friend.

Till turned and gulped as he saw who had stopped him.

Paul.

"Um, can I help you..?" Till awkwardly chuckled, desperately hoping the firefighter wasn't stopping him for the reason Till thought he was. "Thank you for saving my friend."

"I didn't think I'd see you again." Paul stepped backward from the ambulance, Till stumbling as he was pulled with the shorter man. With Till gone, one of the paramedics nodded to Paul and shut the door of the vehicle, looping around to jump in the driver's seat and quickly driving away moments later, taking Flake with them and leaving Till behind.

"Excuse me?" Till rose a hand to shakily run his fingers through this hair. "I don't know-"

"You ran from me. This morning, at the mattress factory." Paul reached into his pocket, pulling a familiar lighter from it and holding it up so Till could see it. "This is yours, is it not?"

"I-" Till blinked, stumbling over his words as he desperately tried to think of a way to get out of this situation.

"Schneider," Paul curled his fist around the collar of Till's jacket, dragging him over to the truck and the rest of the firefighters - who were all watching what was going on. "call the cops. This is the guy we've been looking for."

" _The_ guy?" One of the firefighters questioned, moving to pull his phone from one of the pockets on his coat. "The same one from earlier?"

"Yes."

"Wait, wait!" Till cried out as the firefighter began to dial the numbers to call the law enforcement. "Give me a chance! Let me explain, please!"

The firefighters all paused and leveled dubious looks at

"Guys, I think we should hear him out." The tallest firefighter spoke up. "If anything, just to get his reasons. We can call the cops after he explains if he doesn't make any good points."

"I agree with Ollie," the firefighter with the phone, Schneider, agreed. "Let's hear him out."

Paul hesitated for another moment, be rode sighing and nodding.

"But not here in the middle of the street, let's get back to the firehouse." Paul grabbed Till by the sleeve and pulled him over to the truck, pushing him to the ladder that was settled against the side of it and quickly following Till as the man awkwardly clambered up the shaky ladder and into the cab of the firetruck.

As the other firefighters piled in - Paul squeezing past Till to take a seat by the far window - Till ended up awkwardly squished between the two taller firefighters, his eyes trained on the horizon as he tried to avoid any eye contact with the four men he was in the truck with.

As the truck loudly roared to life and leapt away from the curb, it was only a few minutes until the bright city was quickly falling behind them, the looming skyscrapers and luminescent billboards giving way to sprawling fields and orchards.

After only a few minutes awkwardly crammed between the two men on either side of him, the firehouse came into view - Till never really knew why it was so far out from the city, it seemed pretty inefficient to him.

Till felt his stomach flip-flop as the firefighter driving the truck - Richard, was that his name? - carefully pulled into the large garage, and brought the truck to a stop, shutting the bright headlights off and letting the loud engine fade to silence.

"Follow me." Paul squeezed past Till and moved out the door, following the other three firefighters as they exited the cab.

Till nervously followed the firefighters as they clambered down the side of the firefighting truck and into the dim firehouse, flicking on old and yellowing lights as they moved aside plates and random miscellaneous objects to clear a table, settling two seats at the table across from each other, Paul moving forward to gesture at one seat.

"Sit down." Paul sat down in the other chair, watching as Till nervously moved to settle down on the edge of the seat, eyes low as he tried to avoid eye contact with Paul or the other firefighters gathered behind the shorter firefighter. "You're the arsonist. The one that we've been chasing after the last few weeks, correct?"

"Yes," Till hesitantly nodded, his hair swinging in front of his eyes. "Yes, I am."

"Why?" Paul leaned forward onto his arms, an indescribable look in his eyes. "What's your motive?"

"I.. really cannot say." Till shrugged helplessly as Paul - and the other firefighters - leveled an unimpressed look at him. "It's true! I just have an impulse to! It's like an addiction. Whenever I see fire I just get a thrill. The flames are so beautiful, and I find their uncontrollable and wild nature exciting. I just _love_ fire. It's like my art."

Till helplessly gestured with his hands for a moment as he searched for words to explain his thoughts. "I, I really can't explain."

"But you could have hurt someone!" Richard spoke up from behind Paul. "Fire isn't a joke or a toy to play around with!"

"I always make sure there's no people or animals in the buildings when I set the fires! And I choose places where the fires won't spread to other homes or businesses before you four can get it contained." Till narrowed his eyes as he spoke, angered at the fact that they would accuse him of trying to hurt innocent people. "And they're always abandoned buildings that aren't being used."

Till threw his arms up in exasperation, "If anything I'm helping! Remember the abandoned gas station on 5th and Main? Or that hotel building that never got finished and just fell apart over time? They both sat unused and vacant for over a year but mere weeks after I started fires there, construction has started and new buildings are forming from the ashes!" Till shrugged. "Like a phoenix. One old and decrepit thing dies and a new thing is born from its remains."

"How do you know that we would hear about the fires in time?" One of the taller firefighters - This one Till remembered the name of, Schneider, - leaned on the back of Paul's chair as Till looked up to him. "What if nobody saw the fires or called the emergency services?"

"Of course I thought about that." Till rolled his eyes. It's like these firefighters thought he was a simple-minded idiot. "I waited a few minutes, and if nobody noticed or called, I would call myself or run up to a passerby and tell them to call. I'm probably the reason for at least half of my fires being reported to you guys as quickly as they were."

Paul groaned and rubbed his forehead as he shook his head, before pushing his chair back and standing from the table.

"We need to discuss this. Don't move." Paul warned Till, before moving to the other side of the room and huddling with the other three firefighters, their hushed voices not loud enough to carry to Till, who had no choice but to awkwardly sit and await his fate.

After a few minutes of hushed conversation and unsubtle glances being thrown in Till's direction, Paul and the others moved back, Paul moving to sit back across from Till, a serious look in his eyes as he gazed at the larger man. "Alright, we won't report you to the police - at least for now. You seem to have a good heart and morals, which I can't ignore."

"Thank you!" Till smiled gratefully.

"We won't report you - _if_ you follow our conditions." Paul crossed his arms across his chest as he leveled a neutral gaze at Till.

Till's smile dropped from his face. "Conditions..?"

"Well first, you have to stop setting fires. That isn't okay, no matter the reasoning. _But_ , we have a solution for you to be around and see fire in a legal and helpful way."

"And that is..?" Till shifted, awkward as he waited to hear about the ways he could avoid being reported and arrested.

"Well, we've needed another firefighter for a while!" Paul clapped his hands together. "The firehouse has been feeling a little empty as of late and you look like a fairly strong man, which will be useful for us. We've discussed and we agree that if you can work hard and completely stop your illegal activities, we won't report you - and we will give you an opportunity to interact with fire in a completely legal way."

Till didn't have to mull it over for long, quickly nodding as a hesitant smile grew on his face.

"I think I can work with that."

"Great! Now let's get you out of here. You have a friend in the hospital that probably needs you right now." Paul motioned to the exit. "We'll discuss and work out everything later."

"Oh, about that." Till sheepishly rose a hand to rest on the back of his neck. "I had a question involving him." Paul rose an eyebrow, an obvious cue for Till to continue. "So my friend - his name is Flake - lost his job today... that was the reason he was up there. So he needs a job, and if I'm joining you guys, I just wondered if be could maybe also come along..?"

Paul contemplated for a moment before turning to share a glance with the others, who all shrugged as if to say 'sure, why not?'.

"Is he any good at driving?" Paul grinned, "Richard tends to crash or dent our poor ol' rig a little more than I like."

"Hey!" Richard reached over and smacked Paul's shoulder. "It's not my fault! The city streets simply aren't built for our big beauty!"

Till grinned, already feeling more at home with the group of firefighters.

"He's an alright driver, he really loves cars. He was also studying to be a doctor before he dropped out of college a few months ago to work more jobs, so... that could be helpful."

"Well then, he sounds like he could be a good addition to our group. Consider him apart of the team." Paul clapped Till on the back and led his new colleague out to the large firefighting truck, the others following behind. "Now hop in, let's go break the news to your friend about his new career."

"Wait, are we going to have to live here, at the firehouse?" Till questioned as he clambered up the ladder, slinging himself into the comedically tall truck and scooting over on the bench to let the others slide in next to him.

"Yes, why?" Schneider chuckled. "It's not like you guys had a top-tier apartment, it's basically a free upgrade, you don't even need to lay rent! It is a little cramped though."

"Well... Flake has a cat." Till looked away with an awkward smile. "And he really loves that cat. I don't think he could bare giving it up to someone else."

Paul stared at Till for a moment, before slumping down in his seat dramatically. "Of course he does." Paul sighed. "Most firehouses have cool and intimidating dogs as their mascot. I guess we're getting a cat instead guys!"

The group all chuckled, and the truck roared to life.

As Richard focused on the driving and the other three fell into conversation with each other, Till felt more at home than ever. They seemed to really be a family, and Till hoped he and Flake would fit right in.

**Author's Note:**

> Please leave a comment if you enjoyed! I really love writing these MV fics so I hope my readers love reading them as well :)
> 
> There's like almost no way a net held by a couple of people only a few feet above hard concrete would be able to save Flake - but we're just gonna ignore that :)
> 
> [My Tumblr](https://explorersnotepad.tumblr.com/)


End file.
